


Crudelis Mundus

by Civiel



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Rome, Ancient Rome, Family Fluff, Gen, Historical Hetalia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2015-09-21
Packaged: 2018-04-16 17:24:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4633836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Civiel/pseuds/Civiel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roma Vargas is a centurion in the great legions of Julius Caesar, he's got a nice house, a beautiful garden and a loving family. But as turmoil spreads throughout the country and the position of Caesar is fatally weakened, his grandchildren Feliciano and Lovino Vargas find themselves separated from their grandpa. All alone in the unforgiving and cruel world of ancient Rome, with nothing but resourcefulness, each other, and the unexpected kindness and love of strangers to survive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Centurion

**Author's Note:**

> The first few chapter will be told from Roma's point of view, to introduce the characters, the world etc. Also do keep in mind that more characters will be added throughout the story, and there will also be a bigger focus on relationships later. But for now, to avoid spoiler, I have chosen to only tag the ships/characters that are actively partaking in the story, the rest will be added later as they make an appearance and the relationships develop ;D
> 
> Also keep in mind that I am using historically inaccurate names for the countries in the story. I am trying to keep everything as historically accurate as I can, but when it comes to names I will be using their canon (or widespread fanon) names to avoid confusion.
> 
> Thank you and enjoy!

The narrow alley smelled of rotten fish, faeces and dust, as most streets in the immense metropolis did. Piles of crates carrying all kinds of nets, hooks and other fishing supplies stood piled on the hard stone pavement. The people that lived here had placed their tools between houses and huts, on top of barrels and pretty much everywhere else they could fit. One glance at the street in question, and one could easily assume it was a place where fishermen and their wives slept, ate and did their daily work. In that case one would assume quite correctly, but nesting among all the huts filled with the typical hard working people of Rome, a sleazy brothel could be found. If not the cleanest or most luxurious brothel in the city, it was considered generally popular by the common folk. This particular establishment was well known all over Italy for having a wide variety of interesting ladies, and men, for those who found that to their liking. You could find anything from Romans to Greeks to Spaniards behind the walls of the well-liked establishment. Their great variety of exotic prostitutes and slaves were the reason the place was so popular in the first place. Half of their workers didn't even know Latin, which made it all the more exciting.

The street outside was typically full of activity. It was situated close to the great azure blue ocean this side of Italy was so famous for. There were an abundance of sea creatures of all shapes and sizes in the waters between Corsica and Rome. Being a fisherman paid well around here, and it showed. Sure, the neighbourhood was not exactly prosperous or particularly fancy, but the huts were well built, and its residents wore fine clothing and ate as well as any.

 Plebs, slaves, whores and beggars usually paraded these streets doing their daily work, but at the current time, the only living things one could catch a glimpse of were skinny rats or the occasional bird being brave enough to grab a decomposing fish from a barrel, or a breadcrumb someone dropped off the ground. It was early in the morning, or very late at night if one might think about it that way. There wouldn't be many hours till the sun would rise above the rooftops and bathe the city in its golden rays, but until then, everything was as peaceful and quiet as one might expect at this time of day.

 Or actually, quiet weren't exactly the right word to describe the scene that currently unfolded on this very spot.

"malum, caenum, stolide impudice!"

 A youthful, nice-looking woman was loudly exclaiming her disgust for a man unknown. The woman had just came stumbling out from the nearby establishment, pushing and cursing the man currently positioned in front of her. She was wearing nothing but a linen sheet wrapped around her slender, but beautiful body. Even in this state she looked like a goddess, a ferocious goddess with big emerald coloured eyes and thick black hair, reaching down her back all the way down to her lean bottom. It looked like she had gotten out of bed in a hurry, her long hair all messy and greasy, and pearls of sweat still resting on her delicate tanned skin.

"Darling Aeliana, please, please calm do-"

The woman named Aeliana picked up a small pebble and threw it at the unfortunate victim of her insults. Quite hard too it seemed. The man yelped backwards when the small rock hit his uncovered chest. He wasn't wearing much more than the angry woman was.  

"Ouch! Aeliana, please. Just listen to me, let me at the very least get my clothes so we can talk like civilized rom-"

Another pebble flew through the air. This time the throw didn't quite hold the same vigour and enthusiasm as the first, and the half naked man managed to dodge before it could do any damage.

 "Aeliana, darling" His voice was tired now, pleading.

The woman stopped throwing stones for a minute. Eyes filled with rage as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Okay, I'll get your clothes bastard, if you really are serious about leaving me in this sorry state. And here I thought you truly loved me..." She spoke the last sentence quieter, with a sad and accusing tone in her voice.

The woman turned her back on the man and entered the backdoor of the brothel the two had come out from. It didn't take long before she reappeared with a roman uniform, a pair of sandals and an iron sword in her delicate arms. The woman took a long look at the attire in her possession, she looked puzzled, as if she was debating the possibility of just keeping the objects for her own. She wanted to refuse giving them back to the, at the moment, quite vulnerable roman in front of her, but after a few seconds she seemed to discard the very tempting idea of humiliating the man even more than she already had by yelling at him. Stealing from a roman solder, and a high standing one at that, would be considered risky business, so she had to do with just very carelessly throwing the objects on the ground at his feet.  Trying to seem as disgruntled and upset as humanly possible while doing it.

The man bent down to pick up his clothes, brushing his brown, untidy bangs out of his eyes on his way up. But before he could dodge, another pebble soared elegantly though the air hitting him, this time right on his forehead.

"But for the love of Jupiter can you stop throwing things at me?!" The brown haired roman irritably cried out while rubbing his forehead. A tiny red mark appeared where the rock had hit.

"Oh yes I am sorry, I shall stop _master_ , wouldn't want to leave bruises on that precious body of yours" The lady said sarcastically. She had a temper, and an attitude that could make even the gods scared. By roman standards she was an ill-disciplined woman, but that might have to do with the fact that her father was a Gaul, or so the sly neighbourhood gossips liked to tell everyone.

 "You think I am just a whore huh Roma? A filthy slave whore?! You never cared about me at all?!"

Oh yeah, and she was a prostitute. Roma had met her a warm afternoon not long ago. She was down by the fountain not far from here at the time, gathering much needed water for her master. Roma had flirted with her, like he always did with pretty ladies, and naturally one thing had led to another. The girl however had gotten it into her head that he was totally smitten with her, the previous night she had even proposed marriage to him. Roma had panicked and said something about how impossible that would be... And here they were.

The man had already started dressing himself by the time the woman started yelling again. He was very eager to get away from the vicious beast of a female in front of him. But he tried to reassure and calm her down a bit nevertheless.

"No! I think you are beautiful and..." Roma suddenly seemed unsure of himself. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly before proceeding.

"And! And you have beautiful hair!"

This seemed to completely infuriate the woman. What little she had left of self control ebbed away, and tears started welling up in her all too beautiful eyes. She started crying now, more like sobbing really. The raven haired woman dropped to the ground, clutching the white sheets wrapped around her striking bronzed body tightly while bawling uncontrollably. She was an angry crier.

"You only care about my looks, I am... I am nothing but a whore to you!"

Roma had finished dressing himself now. It wasn't like he hadn't been in this situation before, considering how many times this had happened by now. Husbands getting home to see their wives, being kicked out by angry lovers, getting threatened by girls that told him they would cut of his... vital organs, if he didn't leave immediately, sneaking out of beds in the middle of the night. He was practically an expert on getting dressed in a hurry after this many years with countless lovers. He stood in full roman armour appropriate for a centurion of his rank now. It was made of thick leather, a bronze breastplate adorned by a skilfully engraved lion and a red cloak. Quite comfortable to wear, but it still gave enough protection to make its wearer durable and sturdy during battle. The brown haired soldier looked stunning in the armour. Even though he was way past his fifties, he was still as elegant as a cat and as powerful as a lion.

 Roma sighed. He seemed to be at a loss of words now, he had no idea how to make the bawling woman shut her mouth. Nothing he said now could ever convince her that he was not just using her for her body, nothing he was willing to say to her, anyway. Because hell, he thought, with a tiny speck of bad conscience. It was mostly true.

 He took a single step towards her, making sure not to position himself too close in case she decided to throw another stone at him. He opened his mouth to speak, but decided against it before he could say anything. Instead he lead his hand down to the leather parcel hanging from his waist belt. At least she hadn't stolen all his money, it wouldn't have been the first time he had walked away from a lover and found that all his money were missing.

He slid his hand into the bag and grabbed a few coins. The messy-haired brunet took a quick glance at the shining metal currency, before dropping them on the ground in front of the crying woman. The likeness of the famous Julius Caesar decorated one side of the coin, he looked serious, stern and almighty. Roma knew the emperor personally, at least he used to, and quite honestly he had to admit that the portrait on the currency didn't quite capture his real-life appearance quite as well as it could have. But there had been a while since Roma had seen the man in person, not since the boys were very little. Roma smiled to himself. It had been too long since he wore the soldier's uniform, he had just recently enlisted again, after many years away from service to take care of the children in his custody. But no matter, Roma thought to himself. This was not the time to think about past glories.

The now tear-soaked woman lifted her face from her hands, she had calmed down a bit now. Instead of the loud and quite maddening howling one could here up to this point, her sobs had a quieter and sadder sound to them. She stared at the coins in front of her. After her eyes had counted them all and recognized what it was, her gaze moved on to Roma. She stared directly into his brown eyes. But the centurion didn't want to trouble himself with her any longer. He took a final fleeting look at the crying mess in front of him, eyes still fixed while he smiled subtly but kindly before turning, heading his attention towards the alley in front of him. He then started walking, with determined and untroubled steps, as only a man who was used to leaving his lovers crying on the grubby stone pavement could.

 A few more curses were yelled after him. He thought he could distinguish  something about him being a cynical bastard and how she wouldn't accept the money, and she mentioned something about the fact that she wasn't just some simple whore he could boss around, but in reality he didn't really pay attention to her weeping. He had only one thing in mind at the current moment; he had to get home to his grandchildren.

Roma Vargas wasn't a heartless bastard. He was well liked by most. The old centurion was charismatic, humorous, laid back and kind to the men under his command. But when it came to love affairs, well, let's just say Roma Vargas was both adored and hated by all the women in Rome. Roma liked women, he liked the thrill of being with someone he hardly knew. He wasn't after a relationship, he was after enjoyment and adventure, and if the ladies of Rome found that hard to understand, he'd rather stay lonely. The only family he needed were his precious grandchildren. Love just wasn't for Roma, he had experienced the pain of heartbreak and loss once before, after that he'd sworn to never take another woman as his wife, so for now, he was content playing the role of the heartbreaking bastard.

After a long walk through the limestone covered streets of Rome, he arrived at his house. The sun had awakened in the meanwhile, it was still very early in the morning, but by now people had started pouring out of the various houses, huts, brothels and stores decorating the roads of the metropolis. Before walking up to his house, he decided to buy a few apples from the local salesman. There had been a while since the boys had tasted apples, and he thought he might as well bring a little I-am-sorry gift for not coming home the earlier night.

His residence was situated in a nice part of the city. It was clean, didn't smell of urine and some of the houses in the neighbourhood were nothing less than artworks. Marble columns, big windows overlooking the streets, pretty statues and lush gardens. Roma wasn't that lucky, his house was as simple as most others, but it was big and well built. Being a centurion in the world's greatest army paid well. And although he had been away from service for as long as he had, his previous wife was a rich lady, and with their marriage, all her money became his. They had built this house together, planned everything from scratch. He even had his own little garden behind his residence. In the old days his wife used to tend to it. She loved working out in the sun and she was a natural when it came to plant life. He still remembered how beautiful her figure looked under the sun's rays, Roma knew in his heart that he could never forget.

Now, his oldest grandson had found a sudden love for tomatoes, so he had planted several tomato plants all over the tiny speck of land behind their house, plants he hoped to harvest in the autumn season. Roma was bad at gardening though, so unfortunately a lot of the plants had died the same year he had first planted them, he blamed it on the city air. His youngest grandchild would just laugh at him, he was far better at plants than himself, and little Feliciano seemed to enjoy working in their tiny garden, he was the one who kept the few plants they had left alive now.

The three of them had a good life here. His only regret was that his grandchildren were left alone a lot. Roma had taken small mercenary jobs ever since he left the legions, so even though he stayed in Rome for the most part, he was rarely home. And now, he was a centurion in the roman army, in Caesars army. So naturally things would get even more busy for him in the coming years, but luckily these were peaceful times, and Roma knew his grandchildren were able to take care of themselves. In fact they were old enough to be considered men by now. Roma's brows furrowed. Whenever he thought about how grown up his grandsons had become, his mind naturally drifted to the possibility that his sons might marry soon, not only was it a possibility really, it was expected of them. Roma clenched his fists, damn if he'd let his precious grandchildren marry. He didn't want to lose them to any vicious she-beasts. They were still too young he told himself. But as Feliciano neared his 19th year and Lovino neared his 20th, Roma knew deep down inside that his excuse wasn't usable anymore. He shook his head and the thought away for now, that was a problem for another time he mumbled to himself while he directed his attention towards the wooden door leading into his home.

Roma tried being stealthy, but the creaking of the door made it infuriatingly difficult. He didn't want to wake up his grandchildren, they were surely asleep at this time of day. Feliciano and Lovino usually slept till long in the afternoon if he gave them the chance, and maybe, Roma thought. Maybe if he managed to sneak into his own bed now, his naive grandchildren would think he had just gotten home late the earlier night. Lovino and Feliciano were never happy when he got home late, but he figured it was better than having to explain why he came home so early in the morning. They'd surely know he'd spent the night at a brothel, as he so often did, and they would definitely not be happy about it, especially not Lovino. Roma quietly headed for the stairs leading up to his own bedroom, if he could just manage to get up there, no one would-

"Grandpa"

The young boy's voice put an abrupt stop to his train of thought.

"Be damned" he whispered to himself.

Roma turned around slowly towards the source of the voice. A young man was standing in the living room. His hands were crossed over his tunic-covered chest  and he wore an annoyed and disappointed facial expression. Roma saw from here, despite the bad lighting, that this was Lovino, and he was wearing his sleeping tunic, which obviously meant that Roma had awakened him up by entering the house.

"Oh Lovi! Good day, I see you are up and about. I was just going up to my bedroom..."

His second grandson appeared out from a dark corner behind Lovino. He was a tiny bit smaller, a tiny bit skinnier and a tad bit paler than his sibling, but apart from that the two brothers were nearly identical. They both had short copper brown hair usually worn untidy in the front, but Feliciano's shade was a bit redder and a bit lighter than Lovino's. The youngest had the same hair colour as his mother, while Lovino had inherited her hazel-green eyes instead, and her personality. Lovino was a wild card compared to his brother, when it came to behaviour they were fairly different. While Feliciano Vargas was naive, obedient (if not a tiny bit lazy) and friendly. Lovino was suspicious, disordered and rude to the point of getting himself in trouble very frequently. The brothers were like night and day in some aspects, but they had their similarities too.

Lovino raised an eyebrow at Roma, his gaze fixed on him, studying every movement he made. Just as the magnificent beast decorating Roma's breastplate, Lovi was like lion ready to tear his prey apart as soon as he saw an opening in his defences.

"Ah Feli , you are awake this early too huh? That's a first..." Roma laughed forcefully, trying to lighten the uncomfortable mood. He shifted his eyes over to the youngest of the two, trying to silently beg him for mercy from Lovino's death glare.

Feliciano opened his mouth, as if to say something, but closed it as soon as Lovino started speaking.

"Feli woke me up" Lovino turned towards his brother standing behind him. "He was worried about you, so he didn't sleep well, he woke me up when he heard some creaking from the front door"

Feliciano stepped forward,  he looked uncomfortable, clutching his own tunic fretfully.

"I didn't really mean to wake you up, the creaking woke me and I was concerned there might be some burglars or something trying to break an entrance"

Lovino patted his brother gently on the back

"Nah, it's fine Feli. What I am more irritated about is why our dear grandpa here is coming home so late... Or should I say early, in the first place" Lovino didn't try to hide the hostility in his voice, he rarely did. Everyone in the room knew exactly where Roma had been, Lovino just wanted to make him uncomfortable by asking so directly.

Roma figured he was quite angry with him, not only had he gotten home at this untimely hour, he had managed to make Feli worry about him, and on top of that Lovino had been woken up way earlier than usual due to the whole mess. He was always cranky in the mornings, to be woken up in this way definitely didn't make it any better.

"Sorry boys, I was with a lady friend... I should have told you I would get home late"

Lovino narrowed his eyes.

"Yes bastard, you really should have. Feliciano was worried..." He shrugged, finally taking his eyes off Roma. Roma was thankful for the relief, his staring made him uncomfortable. "I am not really interested in hearing about your glorious conquests though, so I think that is enough information for me"

Roma sighed in relief when Lovi so suddenly dropped the subject. Spending the night in such a shady brothel wasn't exactly something he was proud of... He suddenly remembered the apples he had bought for his grandchildren.

"I got something for you!" He exclaimed with a smirk, his hands searching his pockets for the precious fruit. "Aha!"

Lovino rolled his eyes as if to show his grandpa exactly what he thought of this shallow attempt to lighten the mood.

Roma took out two big red apples, one for each grandson. Feliciano's gentle amber coloured eyes immediately lit up by the sight.

"You bought apples?!" Feliciano ran straight past Lovino and over to his grandfathers side to grab the plump fruit. "Thank you!"

"Yes! I bought them just for you, but..." Roma took the apple back from Feliciano's eager hands. "You know the rules, no hug, no treat"

Feliciano crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, pretending to be stubborn and refusing the hug, but Roma knew the boy couldn't resist an embrace, and certainly not food! His eyes lit up again, and the young Italian laughed and leaned in for a big hug. Roma found Feliciano's laugh to be the most precious thing in the entire world, he had always been so little and cute. Even now, with his skinny arms wrapped around his chest, he couldn't' help but look at Feliciano as something defenceless and pure, something in need of protection. Roma knew he shouldn't think about his grandson like a defenceless young thing anymore. He was a man now, but still...

"Grandpaa, your armour is in the way" Feliciano made an annoyed facial expression, gently poking at the armoured plate on his chest with one hand.

Roma laughed and hugged back, lifting Feliciano slightly off the ground while Feliciano giggled. Still now, Roma wanted Feli to stay youthful and untarnished forever, even though he knew that would be impossible in the end.

"Yes, sorry Feli. I guess I should get changed into something a bit more comfortable, will you run upstairs and fetch my shirt please?"

Roma put Feliciano down on his feet, putting one hand on his head, ruffling his red hair slightly. Feliciano smiled and nodded.

"Sure!" He said enthusiastically before hurrying towards the stairway leading to the upper floor. He seemed very happy again now, apple in hand. Feliciano was quick to forget, he usually didn't dwell too long on conflicts or negative feelings in general. Lovino on the other hand...

Roma turned his attention towards Feli's older brother. Lovino had placed his bottom demonstratively on the staircase leading up to Roma's room. Feliciano almost tripped over him on his quest to retrieve Roma's clothes. He seemed to be angry still, but there was something else too, jealousy?

"Lovi, grandpa has an apple for you too!" Roma almost sang the words in an attempt to make the sulking boy happier, the attempt failed horribly.

"I am not a child" Lovino said under his breath.

"What was that Lovi? I couldn't hear you" Roma sang, still with the humorous tone in his voice. He moved closer to the young man now, playfully tossing the apple from one hand to the other. "Don't you want it?"

Lovino turned his head demonstratively away.

"Oh come on, don't be such a grump"

 Still no response.

Roma studied the boy for a few seconds, Lovino honestly looked quite hurt. He had a sulking expression and a somewhat sad look in his eyes, even though he tried very hard to hide it behind his supposed anger.

Roma saw an opportunity, and seized it. He leaped towards Lovi, dropping the apple on the floor before he started to mercilessly tickle the young man. Lovino tried his best not to laugh, he wriggled hopelessly from one side to the other in a desperate attempt of escaping his grandpa's tickling, but Roma was too strong and too fast, he simply held Lovino down with one hand, poking his stomach with the other.

"Stop, grandpa.... sTOP, IT ISN'T FUNNY!" Lovino shrieked out, but he was unable to stay serious for long. Lovino's frown slowly turned into a tiny smile."Stop pleaasee" He called out, trying very hard not to giggle.

But mercy wasn't a word in Roma's vocabulary, especially not when it came to tickling.  Lovino gave up, his begs of mercy turning into loud laughter. Roma started laughing too, even Feliciano, who had appeared at the top of the staircase with Roma's garments joined in. In the end Lovino was reduced to a laughing mess on the floor, while Feliciano was chuckling loudly and grinning, happily eating away at his apple.

Roma smiled down at his oldest grandson, then moved his gaze over to the youngest. They both looked happy, healthy and safe. These moments made it all worthwhile for Roma. Raising them both on his own hadn't been easy, taking mercenary jobs to earn a bit of money to feed the two, refusing to ask for help from anyone, not even the kind old lady next door, in fear of something happening to his dear family members. Now that he was back in the soldier's uniform, he often worried he wouldn't get enough time with his grandsons, if a war was to break out, he would probably have to leave permanently... However, there were golden times like this that made him treasure the life he lived, no matter how chaotic or imperfect it was at times.


	2. A Promise of Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter is a bit early due to me being away tomorrow. I also finished this Chapter veery early, so I'd like to get it out so I can start working on Chapter 3 sooner rather than later.

_Ides of March, 44 BC:_

It was a particularly hot and radiant morning. The previous day's quarrels were all but blown away in the crisp autumn wind and Roma felt happier than he had in a long time. He did not quite know why, this was as normal as a day could be. His dear grandsons were sleeping soundly in their beds, the sun was shining just the same as it always had, and everything was as quiet as one might expect. Not a thing was out of the ordinary.

Roma walked down the creaking stairs leading to the house's living space, quietly humming for himself. He had always liked singing, and personally, he found himself quite good at it, although his grandsons tried to convince him otherwise. He wore the shirt Feli had fetched for him the previous day, and a pair of wool trousers, they were too small and had more than a couple of holes and rifts, but Roma did not care much about that. They kept him warm, hid what needed to be covered and felt comfortable, that was more than enough for him. What he wore outside of battle was largely irrelevant.

The little family's living space was moderately sized. It had a well-built wooden table in its centre, with four chairs, each with their own crimson pillow, embroidered with a beautiful golden thread. In the corner of the room stood a fireplace, this was where Feli did his cooking. Feliciano was a marvel in the kitchen, and due to the fact that there weren't exactly any women living with the Vargas family at the current time, Feliciano usually did most of the food preparation. Feli liked doing chores and helping around the house, although Roma could at times find him asleep, ignoring his duties. However, when the boy worked, he surely had no equal.

As the older brother, one might expect Lovino to be the responsible one, but Lovino was not really the hard working type. In reality, he did more harm than good whenever he tried to do any kind of household tasks. He enjoyed bossing his little brother around though, and Lovino was often sent to do shopping because he had a special talent when it came to bargaining. After a few death glares and insults from the young man, most people gave him a discount. Be it out of fear or the overwhelming desire to get rid of him, no one knew. It was a convenient talent nevertheless.

Roma had used to worry about his youngest grandson becoming too feminine. When Feli was younger he seemed to have an interest in pretty dresses and other feminine garments, and he had many feminine interests, but Roma did not care about that anymore. Sure, Feliciano was feminine, but Roma much preferred that to the possibility that he might have been interested in warfare and the soldier's life. Roma knew how hard a life in the legions could be, and the last thing he wanted was to one-day find his grandson dead on some road outside of Rome with a blade stuck through his heart.

Lovino was different. Neither of the boys were particularly strong or big, but Lovino had a whole other outlook on life. He wanted action, adventure and glory. Roma had been so kind to teach him how to use a sword when he was younger, and for a time Lovino found it enjoyable. However, as soon as the lessons got more serious Lovino quickly gave up. He had never been a fighter, Roma figured he never would, but that did not stop him from bragging about his "great" fighting skills to others, and it definitely did not stop him from being a cocky little shit either. Lovino had been in more fights than Roma could count, and Roma could count pretty high mind you! Sometimes he came home all bloody and beaten up after a quarrel with the local mercenary band, actually, Roma reflected, it was amazing the boy had not been killed already. But despite his cockiness, Lovi wasn't a brave kind of person, and he never went out of his way to annoy the local brutes. He just had a very... Interesting way to communicate with other people. Roma laughed for himself thinking about his oldest grandson. He was something special all right.

Waking up early had been necessary for Roma today. A meeting at the senate was to be held early, and naturally, Caesar would participate. As one of Caesars most trusted bodyguards and soldiers (or so Roma liked to think at least) he had to be present at the senate meeting. He would be stationed outside the council building. There were very rarely troubles during these meetings, and the soldiers outside were mostly for show, but Roma took his job quite seriously. In all honestly he found a certain pride in standing there guarding the great construction. It had been so long since he was a part of the honourable legion of Julius Caesar now, being back, hearing the plebs talking about his fancy armour, watching the ladies swoon when he smirked at them, it gave him great pleasure.

Roma yawned lazily while scratching his stomach. Just like his family members, he had never been a big morning person, but he did his duty nevertheless. A loud growling sound could be heard from his abdomen, he was obviously quite hungry. Roma did have a few minutes to kill to make a pottage for breakfast if he so wished, but he quickly discarded the idea. He was not too good at cooking, and it was not as if he could wake Feliciano and make him cook some proper food for him either. Besides, he tried convincing himself, he was not that hungry anyway.

Roma proceeded to look for for his clothes instead. The centurion could be a bit unorganized at times, and he often came home quite drunk. Unorganized and drunk was a terrible combination, he had a habit of forgetting his clothes in the most inappropriate places. One time Feliciano had found parts of his armour in the fireplace. Luckily, there was no fire present in the fireplace at the time, and the armour was undamaged, but still, Roma had to be more careful if he did not want to permanently damage any of his items. Luckily, he had remembered to place his clothes in an applicable spot this time, they were neatly spread out over the little stool across the room from the staircase. Roma sighed with relief before starting to dress himself. He had no patience to start a search this early in the morning, so he was very relieved his clothes were so easily found.

After putting on his armour Roma figured there was little reason delaying his departure any longer. There was still a little while until he was to meet up with the rest of Caesars soldiers, so he figured he might take a stroll through the finer parts of the city on his way to his station. Maybe he could even find a fruit merchant to feed his hungry stomach some breakfast. He liked walking around the city. Watching the architecture, the statues and the fountains gave him a sense of pride of being roman. He loved this city. He loved every building, every brothel every rat and every pile of dirt in it and he could not imagine living anywhere else. Not even anywhere else in Italy, Rome was his home, and he would defend it to the death if he had to.

As he prepared himself, picking up his parcel and heading for the door, the sound of bare feet on stone could be heard behind him. Roma turned around quickly, half-expecting something to assault him from behind. The soldiers life made him expect the worst at all times, never truly letting his guard down, but what he saw surprised him more than a burglar or murderer could have.

"Lovino, are you up this early?"

Roma studied the boy. He seemed tired. His hair was messy, the stray strand of hair on the right the left side of his head, that one strand that never seemed to want to stay down were as wild and apparent as always. His green eyes looked drowsy, but he did not look quite as cranky as he usually did at these early hours.

Lovino answered quickly. "Yeah... I heard you leaving"

The young brown-haired man sauntered over to the table and took a seat in a nearby chair. Ruffling his own hair while holding his head low, staring into the wooden surface in front of him. Roma noticed his clenched fists. He looked... Unusually tense?

"Is... Is something the matter Lovi?" Roma asked softly. He was not used to seeing Lovino like this. His usual angry demeanour unexpectedly replaced by that of a frightened boy.

Lovino arched his head up, staring directly at Roma now. His olive eyes meeting his grandpa's brown.

"I... No... It's not really anything significant. I, I just"

Lovino seemed to have trouble expressing exactly what he wanted to convey, but Roma knew something was up by the tone of his voice. Maybe he had a bad dream, Roma thought.

He walked over to the young man. Placing his parcel on the table while taking a seat by his side. Roma leaned over to his grandson, speaking sympathetically.

"Did you have a bad dream Lovi? Did you... Have an accident again?"

Lovino's eyes went big in shock before he narrowed them again, this time in resentment and embarrassment.

"No! By Jupiter grandpa! I am an adult. I haven't had an..." Lovino's cheeks flushed pink.

"I haven't had an accident, in years!" He spat the word "accident" out as if it was some vile curse.

Roma chuckled lightly "okay boy" He ruffled Lovino's hair affectionately. "I was just asking"

Lovino turned his head away from Roma again, pushing the bigger man's hand away from his hair.

"Stop touching my hair, I don't like it!"

Lovino bit his lip shortly after speaking, the worried expression returning. After a few seconds of silence, he shook his head, simultaneously slamming his clenched hands on the table.

"I just..." He did everything he could to avoid Roma's eyes.

"I have a bad feeling damn it"

Roma looked intently at Lovino for a few seconds, angling his head slightly to the side before asking:

"Are you worried...? About me?" Grandpa Roma smiled subtly now. Was Lovino really worried about him? He could not help but feel somewhat pleased about it. Lovino was not the kind of person to show his affection openly to people, so Roma appreciated the gesture.

"No... I... I do not know grandpa. I just have a bad feeling" Lovino paused for a minute. "Just be careful okay?"

Roma's squinted, the smile on his face waning. So he really was worried. It probably was not anything to worry about, it wasn't like today would be any different from any other day of the week, but when Lovino was this worried, he couldn't help but feel sympathetic. Roma rose up, grabbing his parcel. The sudden movement startled Lovino.

He looked down at the young man now, and in this moment he suddenly became conscious of how extremely proud he was of his eldest grandson. He had grown up to be a fine young man. He was slender but handsome. Sun kissed skin, silky brown hair and those stunning olive eyes. Despite the fact that Roma was the one to raise him, he had turned out quite all right; they both beat the odds really. Roma suddenly laughed, quite loud too one might add. His laughter startling Lovino even more.

"Lovino listen to me, I will be fine. I promise. I'll come home tonight and I'll bring some meat from the market and you and I and Feli shall have a grand feast" Roma laughed again, a gentle, comforting chuckle. "Come here; give your old man a hug"

Lovino definitely did not need to be asked twice. He rose to his feet in one swift motion and leaped into Roma's arms, which shocked the old man quite a bit. Lovino was not the kind of person to openly show his affection, he had never been a big hugger, but this hug was honest, warm, and firm.

"Just... Take care okay?" Lovino's muffled voice was sincere and loving. His face completely buried in the blood red cloak Roma wore over his shoulders. Roma soothingly hugged back.

"Of course Lovi, of course"

He let go of the boy, resisting the urge to ruffle his hair yet again.

"You stay here okay? Watch your brother as you always do" Roma noticed how tired the young man looked. "And try to sleep some more" He added. "You look really terrible"

Lovino punched him in the arm. Even while being gentle, Lovi hit hard for a man his size. "Stupid grandpa" he mumbled, finally back to his old, slightly grumpy self.

"Good boy"

Roma turned towards the exit, taking one last look at the brunet before opening the frail door of his home. It was old and worn out, but it did its job, for now. Fixing old doors was not Roma's first priority, or second for that matter. To his grandson’s great dismay, the old centurion never bothered with building, fixing, and repairing things until they were all but ready to fall apart.

Roma closed the door behind him and turned around to look at his house while scratching at the back of his head. He had to get his ass in gear and fix a few of the obvious flaws around the building if he were to leave for the legions soon. The last thing he wanted was for Feli and Lovi to live in something that looked more like a run-down shack than the great house of a high standing soldier.

The streets of Rome were busy at this time of day. Most plebs woke up early to set up their merchant stalls or otherwise manage their daily jobs, and besides, this time of day was the most pleasant. Later the sun would gleam brighter and the city air would become almost intolerably warm. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud to be seen on the blue sky above. Roma was in a strangely good mood.

He strolled through the streets, passing slaves, noblemen, peasants and soldiers. He was noisily humming to himself, an old song. His grandsons, especially Lovino, loved to remind him about how terrible his singing was, but in all honesty, he did not really care. Roma loved singing and hell if he would stop just because he was not too good at it. The song's tunes were calm and pleasant to the ear, almost like a lullaby. Wives and daughters of legionnaires used to sing it, to pray for their sons and husbands safe return. It was a song his mother had sung a lot when Roma was a wee baby. Roma liked the song. True, it did not feel as invigorating and mighty as the songs, he used to sing with his fellow soldiers, but it was nice nevertheless. It reminded him of simpler days when he used to sing for his grandchildren before they went to sleep. Feliciano was especially fond of his old lullabies. He would literally beg him for a song every night when he was younger. His amber eyes all big, innocent, and cheerful. Roma could not help but smile at the thought of baby Feliciano. He was too cute back then.

Roma passed a pair of beautifully dressed women on his way up to the senate quarters. He winked, as he always did. Surely, they could not resist his irresistible charms. However, this time the ladies seemed disinterested. Truly, they could not be acting the way Roma thought they were acting. Especially the palest one of the two were downright making fun of him. Roma was truly shocked by this development.

"Did that old geezer just wink at us?"

The palest of the two sniggered sarcastically, her impish, orange toned eyes flickering mischievously in the sun. She had a fair complexion, completely smooth and silky skin, apart from a tiny little birthmark under her right eye. She couldn’t be more than Feli’s age Roma thought, but she looked mature for her age. 

Despite his increasingly older age, Roma was handsome beyond compare, but for once, he seemed more interested in the girls, than they were in him.

"Airi! Be civil will you! I feel kind of sorry for the old man" The friend of the pale beauty whispered, probably so that Roma wouldn't quite distinguish what she said. 

It failed

Roman women were shy and elegant outwardly, but in the bed, they were as feral as tigers, or so Roma alleged anyways. He had made love to many amazingly experienced ladies. The way these two women acted, only supported his theory of their untamed nature. Only these two seemed to be unladylike even in the open.

"Playing hard to get are you" Roma murmured while grinning at the women. He was not about giving up this easily.  

A sudden hit to Roma's shoulder sent him jumping forwards. A feminine shriek escaped his lips. Someone had walked straight into him from behind. He cursed under his breath and quickly turned around. The old soldier had a habit of shrieking in surprise whenever something caught him off guard. The ladies he tried to flirt with laughed at him, at least someone found the whole situation humorous, Roma sure didn't. He glared at the individual that had so carelessly sauntered into him, irritably exclaiming:

"For goodness sake man, watch where you walk"

Roma's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait"

A wide grin appeared on Roma's face.

"Gerhart. You bastard, Is that you?!"

The man in front of him was quite tall, with long blond hair elegantly slicked back to reveal his masculine face. He had prominent features, with clear blue eyes and a strict expression. He was quite striking. Striking in a very intimidating way. However, underneath the scary exterior there was a pretty decent person, Roma knew.

The man named Gerhart moved his gaze down at Roma. His somewhat unapproachable expression did not change at all despite the other man’s excitement.

"Yes..." The blond paused for a second. "Roma"

"Yeah you bastard, you walked into me!" Roma scolded with a humorous tone in his voice.

"Yes, sorry about that. I am in a hurry" Gerhart started walking onwards again. Not seeming to mind the reunion of old friends Roma was so interested in.

"Gerhart!" Roma grabbed Gerhart's arm before he could run away.

"I haven't seen you in years and this is how you greet your old friend?"

The blond man suddenly took a step towards Roma, in one swift movement he found himself standing uncomfortable close, looking straight into his eyes.

"Hello Roma, long time no see. I am busy, so we will have to talk another time." Gerhart looked away and took a step back.

"Bye"

He said it all unnaturally fast, and in a somewhat threatening way. He really seemed to be stressed about something, Roma was used to Gerhart being emotionless and menacing, they were old friends after all. Known each other since they were both young teens, they even fought side by side for a time. But Gerhart seemed... Different this time. Sure, they used to be rivals, so they had always had a friendly rivalry going, but this time there was not a single strand of hospitality to be found in his old friend's blue eyes. Therefore, Roma slowly let go of the tall man's arm and watched him walk off. It was a shame really, it had been years since he last saw his Germanic friend, but if he was busy Roma didn't want to hold him any longer, he had seen the man angry, he certainly didn't want to invoke that in any way again.

Roma watched Gerhart walk off, in all honesty though he was a tad bit offended. Not only did he rudely walk into him without saying sorry but he had also embarrassed him in front of the fine ladies he was very interested in impressing, and though he'd never admit it, Roma found Gerhart quite intimidating, the ladies probably noticed how easily he had backed down. Roma was a respected and feared member of Caesars legions, he being scared by stupid old Gerhart?! Roma puffed, nonsense.

The centurion rolled his eyes and turned towards the beautifully dressed girls again.

"Sorry girls, just a rude old frie-"

But before he could finish his sentence the ladies had already turned around and were on their way down the street. He could hear them giggling between themselves. "He was handsome"

"He was an old geezer Savanah"

"Yeah sure, but did you see his hair! It was so light. A bit like yours really. Maybe he is Germanic. "

"Yeah maybe, I don't really care"

"Hmpf, you are so difficult sometimes. He must have been a tribesman you know... Could have been exciting getting to know him"

“Pftth, right…”

Roma could not hear any more, the rest of the conversation was muffled by the generic noises of the busy street, but in all honesty, he did not really want to hear any more. His pride was severely wounded after the encounter. He'd rather just start walking again.

Roma felt a bit hurt, his chance with these fine ladies had been completely destroyed by his old fighting buddy. Maybe he was starting to lose his touch. No, could not be, Roma had always been much better with the ladies than Gerhart had, at least that is how it had always seemed.

The train of thought was stopped abruptly, as a faint sound of music could be heard coming from the market close by, the tune was somewhat melancholic, but still cheerful. The melody echoed between the stone walls of the city. It covered the metropolis in a beautiful shroud of musical notes, reflecting between the limestone covered streets and the many, many houses and shacks. It was outstanding, truly beautiful, Roma had to stop and listen for a bit before moving on.

The old grandpa loved music, he always had, but this tune was special in a way. The musician was clearly talented and it made him feel so... at home. Roma could not exactly describe it, but at that very moment, with the bright morning sun shining in his eyes, the warm breeze in his messy hair, and with the experience of seeing his old friend again fresh in memory, a sudden rush of happiness hit him. This city, this great nation of soldiers and civilians and emperors and congressmen, this was his home, and he loved every inch of it.

At last, after a long walk Roma arrived at his station outside of the senate building. It was truly remarkable in appearance. White, clean, and made of marble. With beautiful statues and pots of flowers all around, used as decoration to make the construction as grand and appealing as possible. The building was a true work of art.

Roma had arrived just on time, a squadron of soldiers were already lined up in front of the stairs leading up to the entrance, and it would be mere minutes until the emperor arrived himself. The soldiers saluted him when they noticed he had arrived and Roma saluted back, but no words were exchanged. Everyone knew where and what their assigned tasks were, and Roma hurriedly trotted up to do his. His post was on top of the stairs right next to one of the great columns decorating the entrance. Great, Roma thought, he would have something to lean against when he got bored and tired of standing guard then. Besides, considering the fact that he'd be stationed on top of the stair by the entrance, he'd most certainly be noticed by all the beautiful women he craved the attention of, and in return he'd have a good overlook of the crowd.

Most of the soldiers around him seemed to know each other, they kept a professional appearance, but Roma noticed the subtle grins and hand gestures between them, indicating that they had a casual conversation going. Considering Roma had just newly joined the army again, after quite a long period of absence he found himself a stranger among the men. But Roma didn't really mind, he'd get to know them soon enough, and considering he was their superior officer, and quite a lot older, overly friendly chatter was probably out of the question anyway.

One of the soldiers on Roma's left side moved over to the giant wooden door leading into the pale building, opening it slowly. It seemed the meeting would start shortly. Not long after, senators from left and right started pouring in. Some with bodyguards, some without, but all dressed in the iconic white tunics with red stripes decorating the side that all senators were required to wear to meetings. Roma recognized a few of the individuals, among them was Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus. Roma chuckled for himself; these noblemen had the longest of names. Nevertheless, Brutus was a quite distinguishable person, as the adoptive son of Julius Caesar, and his nephew by blood, he sat with quite a lot of power. Next to him walked Marcus Tullius Cicero, a puny looking man in Roma's opinion. Cicero was known to be especially good with the laws of democracy and he knew his way around rules and regulations, so the man was generally well respected, despite of his somewhat... Dishonourable and artificial personality. No one ever knew exactly where they had Cicero, and Roma could value the power that gave the man.

After all the senators were safely situated inside the hall, a big group of guards started making their way towards the doors. Civilians were quite forcefully pushed out of the way and the person they were guarding could only barely be seen through the human barrier around him. This could be no one else but the great Caesar himself. The crowd was making a bigger uproar than before now, shouting Caesars name in admiration, trying to get as close to the beloved emperor as they could. The soldiers that were stationed with Roma saluted as the emperor started his descent up the stairs, and Roma did the same. The old centurion respected Caesar enormously, he was a great leader and an even better strategist, there were in fact only two things in the entire world Roma would be willing to give his life for; his grandchildren and the great leader himself. Roma had previously had many meaningful conversations with the great man, about strategies and family and soldiers and war. He would go as far as consider him his friend by now. However, an old friend at that.

Before stepping over the threshold, leading in to the building Caesar gave Roma a quick glance, and something that looked like a tiny smile swept over his lips. Was Caesar smiling at him? Roma immediately straightened his back and gave the ruler his best salute. The fact that Caesar noticed and recognized him after the many years it had been since they had talked made Roma indescribable proud. However, Roma did not get to dwell on it for long; Caesar swiftly turned his gaze forward again and proceeded his walking.

After everyone that was supposed to be inside the building had entered, the soldier on Roma's left closed, the wooden doors shut again, giving a small nod to Roma as he did it. He looked young, and very nervous. His hands were shaking subtly and he kept moving in place, nervously scratching his arm and repositioning his armour. No wonder Roma thought, if he was as young as he looked he had to be quite inexperienced, being stationed in front of the huge crowd currently gathering around the construction, in such an important position as he had, was quite prestigious, no wonder he was nervous.

The minutes passed slowly as Roma fulfilled his guard duty. The crows was a peaceful as it normally was, with only a few brave troublemakers here and there attempting to get close to the wooden doors, those were easily pushed back by the front row of guards. It was in all honesty a somewhat boring job, but at least he got to people-watch a bit, as he performed it.

More minutes passed as Roma watched the crowd. There were all sorts of people in it. A few people he knew, many people he did not. He recognized the old woman living next door to him in the crowd, all the way at the back. She was a nice old lady, but she couldn't possibly have many years left to live. She was many years older than Roma, and in truth, Roma was not exactly the youngest and fittest person around either. A shame really, she was such a kind person, sometimes stopping by to say hi to the boys, giving them an apple or an orange when she had any available. Roma could barely glimpse two male figures beside her, they seemed to be talking happily about something, the smallest of the figures were laughing- wait. Roma squinted his eyes in an attempt to see well. Was that Feliciano?

Well be damned it was. In addition, Lovino was right beside him. Roma had to resist shouting a snarky comment to them about how early it was. It was indeed untimely for them to be up though, usually at least. They never seemed to have an interest in the politics of the senate either so Roma was a tad bit curious as to why they were up and running around these early hours of the day. However talking was forbidden for soldiers on guard duty, and he was sure they would not be able to hear him over the buzzing crown anyway. Therefore, he had to do with just observing the boys for now. Lovino seemed a bit grouchy, no wonder considering how early he had been up today. However, he was still polite to the old woman. Her name was Tullia, and she had known his boys since they were very young, she was like a proper grandmother for them both. When Roma was younger, she had even proposed to take care of the boys if he wanted to keep fighting with the legions. Naturally, Roma had refused, but the offer was much appreciated nevertheless.

A sudden, muffled scream could unexpectedly be heard from inside the building Roma was so fiercely guarding. The sound made Roma jerk around, only to be violently tugged backwards by a strength unknown. He suspected the culprit had grabbed his cape by great force, purposely making him fall, but he didn't get much time to think about who or what had done it, because now everything was blurry and loud. While stumbling down the stairs Roma heard screaming from both left and right. Disorder had broken out. There were plebs running away, some of them heading towards the entrance of the senate with knives and other sharp tools. People were fighting each other all around him and the big wooden door was blocked by a group of soldiers. The same group of soldiers he had just up until now been standing next to.

A sudden burst of intense pain to Roma's arm made him scream out in surprise. It seemed a well-armoured man with a well-made sword in his right hand had stabbed him. Miraculously enough though, Roma had managed to dodge the attack partly, those instincts sure came in handy. His arm hurt like hell, but at the very least his head was still firmly placed on his shoulders, he would never go down like this without a fight. Roma had never been more confused in his entire life. Everything around him was a hazy mess of people. All in a matter of a few seconds, it all seemed to have gone straight to hell and beyond.

Roma unsheathed his own sword. His right arm were unusable due to the grave wounds that were inflicted on it, so he figured he had to use his left one. Before his yet partly unseen attacker could finish him off, Roma jumped backwards, regaining his balance. He could finally get a good look on his opponent and the sight made his whole body freeze with sheer terror and bewilderment.

He looked up at a familiar, unreadable face. His opponent's blond hair was tied back in a ponytail now, and he was wearing full leather armour, but his cerulean blue eyes were the same as when Roma had seen those only hours before by the market. Gerhart was standing in front of him, sword in hand and an icy cold look inhabiting his eyes. Before Roma could process this new information, Gerhart took another swing at him, this time aiming at his legs. However, Roma had always been faster than his blond rival, even with his wounded arm he managed to dodge the attack effectively.

When he yet again regained his balance, he tried wrapping his panicked mind around the whole situation. It seemed the majority of the soldiers he had stood guard with had moved up to the wooden door leading in to the senate, blocking it. Roma cursed, this had to be a coup, it just had to. If this was Caesar's doing he would have heard about it beforehand. However, Roma wished it were, because if the soldiers did not act on Caesars command... That meant that they worked for his enemies, and he had many of those.

Roma cursed yet again as a sudden wave of pain shot through his wounded arm. He knew this battle would not end in his favour. He could run away, sure. He was faster than Gerhart, and there seemed to be a way clear of soldiers right behind him, but then again. That would mean abandoning his post. No, Roma tightened the grip around the sword in his left arm while sneering at Gerhart. Even if he had to fight with an injured right arm he had to keep his stance. Backing down now meant that he would desert his duty to protect Caesar, that is something he could never do.

Roma went on the offensive. He had always been a natural with the sword, and even though he had to use his non-dominant hand, his attacks had great strength and speed to them. He leaped towards Gerhart. Iron clashing against iron as Roma struck towards his old friend again and again, furiously searching for an opening in his defences. But Gerhart was in great shape, he blocked all his attack easily.

Roma shouted out in frustration, still swinging his sword relentlessly.

"You fucking bastard! What the hell are you doing!?"

His words seemed, surprisingly enough, to have an impact on the normally calm and emotionless figure. He froze for a millisecond and Roma found the opportunity he was so desperately looking for. In one swift movement, the centurion lashed out at the tall blond opponent in front of him, leaving a deep cut in his chest. Gerhart stuttered backwards, moving his left hand up to inspect the slash. He was bleeding quite badly. Blood was slowly starting to seep between his trembling fingers. Roma had managed to cut right through his armour and sliced a considerably deep gash in the Germanic's flesh. However, Gerhart was though, and after deciding the gravity of the wound, he quickly resumed his fighting position, as strong and determined as ever. Roma tried yelling at him again. He was getting tired very fast, and he was afraid that if he did not manage to drop Gerhart's defences, this would be the last time he would ever get the chance to try.

"You traitor! You are a damn traitor Gerhart!" Roma watched Gerhart closely with narrowed eyes. Was it having an effect on him at all?

At last the Germanic spoke. His voice as cold as the grave.

"Caesar is the traitor Roma. He is nothing but a tyrant. He is destroying the senate, and Rome needs him gone"

Roma could not believe his own ears. He had always known Gerhart was sceptical towards Caesar, but this. Taking part in obvious treason, slashing away at soldiers and openly stating his hate for the emperor. Roma just could not believe it.

"Rome needs Caesar! The people love him!" Roma lashed out at his traitor friend again, enraged. However, he could feel his strength quickly fading. The cut in his arm was a lot deeper than he initially thought, and he could feel himself swiftly losing large amounts of blood. Gerhart dodged easily, but this time he did not reciprocate the attack. He suddenly looked... Empathic?

"Please..." Gerhart lowered his sword as a sign as friendship, if only for a second. "I don't want to hurt you if I don't have to"

"Don't want to hurt me huh?!" Roma raised his voice. He was screaming at Gerhart with all his strength now, basically spitting the words at the man he once called his friend.

"You seemed awfully ready to kill me just moments ago when I was unprepared and unarmed!"

A panicked man came out of nowhere, running straight into Gerhart from the back, making him tumble forwards toward Roma. This was the chance he was looking for. In one swift movement, Roma jumped to his feet, took a good grip around the handle of his sword and leaped at the now defenceless man in front of him. He landed on top of him. Gerhart managed to block the sword that was aimed straight for his neck, but he now found himself trapped under Roma's weight. He had dropped it when blocking Roma's attack and the once powerful Germanic now found himself completely defenceless.

Roma glared down at his friend. He was sitting conveniently on Gerhart’s chest, his legs keeping the blond man's arms down, straddling him. Roma had tears in his eyes from the pain he felt in his arm and his hair was messier and wilder than ever.

"I can't let you live... Not after this" Roma raised his sword again, ready to strike at the defenceless man one last time-

"Grandpa!"

Roma perceived Lovino's scream in the chaotic myriad of voices around him. He could extinguish that tone of voice anywhere. He sounded desperate, scared. Roma lost all his alertness. What if Lovino was hurt? What if Feliciano was hurt?!

Roma did not get to continue that train of thought though, a strange feeling of warmth were slowly, but suddenly spreading from Roma's abdomen. His vision became blurry and before he could even comprehend what happened he felt himself losing the grip on the sword in his left hand. He fell limp almost instantaneously, from shock or the wound itself, Roma did not know, but he found himself falling sideways quickly, consequently freeing the person under him. Only then, did he feel the stabbing pain and notice the handle of Gerhart's sword sticking out from his stomach. It had managed to pierce Roma's belly from below, therefore reaching far under his bronze plate. Piercing his lungs.

The wounded soldier could barely hear a frantic cry coming from somewhere on his left, Roma had never before heard a sound quite as terrorizing and painful, it sounded more like a wounded animal than a human. This was the last sound the old centurion heard before he lost all coherent thought.

 

 


	3. Abandoned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being awfully late with this chapter, some stuff came up that I had to take care of and I had to get through a mild case of writer's block, but anyways; here it is, please enjoy ^-^
> 
> And as always; thank you for reading!

 

Lovino couldn't breathe. It was as if someone had hit him in the gut with a mallet. As he saw his grandpa go limp and fall to the ground, so did he.

His knees hit the ground hard, probably leaving some nasty bruises, but he did not really care. The young Italian had never been more confused in his entire life; everything seemed to move in slow motion around him. The panicked and angry mob were blurry in Lovino's vision, their sounds muffled.

When Lovino was younger he had fallen down from a tree while he was out playing with Feliciano, as they saw often did in their younger years. The fields outside of the main city was beautiful in the autumn season. Golden colours and clear crisp air, the two brothers loved playing outside in the sun till late at night. The day he had fallen down from the tree, he had landed straight on his back; the fall had knocked all breath out of him. Lovino still remembered how he had gasped desperately for oxygen that time, tears swelling up in his eyes from the lack of air.

It felt exactly like this.

He couldn't think straight, the only thing swirling around his head was the image of Roma lying lifeless on the ground, sword piercing his stomach... Crimson red blood.

A bloodcurdling scream pierced the air, setting the world in motion once again, bringing Lovino back to reality.

It was the rawest and most heartbreaking sound Lovino had ever heard, and it seemingly came from Feliciano. Lovino never knew his brother could produce such a horrifying sound, it sounded as if Feliciano himself was the one being stabbed, as if he was dying.

Lovino knew exactly how he felt. Although he was still to wrap his head around exactly what had happened, his body and brain and mind were ahead of him. His body reacted strongly to the shock.

He felt sick.

 He felt like throwing up, his eyes watery, big in shock, and unable to comprehend the circumstances around what he just witnessed.

Lovino was made aware of someone move up from behind him as something hit his shoulder. It was his younger brother running up beside and past him. The little red head was stumbling through the crowd towards Roma's still body, desperately trying to reach him before it was too late. Lovino noticed the tears in his eyes; his movements were frantic and clumsy. All reason and logic gone, the only thing Feli seemed to want right now was to reach his dying family member.

"Feli...no" Lovino managed to force out as he lifted his arm to reach for Feliciano, no use, he was way ahead of him already. His voice was almost a whisper, raspy and weak.

It took some strength to tell Feliciano to wait. Lovino knew his grandpa was dying only a few meters away, and he also knew that this would very likely be the last time he or his younger family member ever saw their father figure alive. And here he was, telling Feliciano to notreach for him?

To Lovino's great surprise, Feliciano seemed to hear his weak attempt at stopping him. He halted unexpectedly, turning around to face his brother in on quick motion.

"... Lovi... Oh gods Lovino"

 Tears were streaming down Feli's face now, and he made no attempt to stop them, not that he ever did.

“We have to help grandpa Lovi, he is... He is..."

Feliciano did not continue his sentence, it did not matter. Both of the boys were painfully aware of what he tried to say.

Seeing his brother in this state made Lovino strangely... Calm. Despite the crowd and his dying grandpa and the feral Germanic man standing over Roma's body. His weapon coated in blood, staring straight at Lovino with ice-cold eyes; the older brother felt peculiarly tranquil.

Lovino's next actions were solely driven by instinct. Without a word, he jumped to his feet and grabbed his brother by the arm. Feli squeaked in surprise at the sudden forceful touch. However, there were no time to explain. Lovino started hurrying towards the direction of their home, Feliciano in tow close after.

The older brother slowed down for a swift second, concurrently taking a quick glance backwards, to see his grandpa one last fleeting time.

The old man was lying completely still on the sandy limestone pavement. His head was turned in the boy's direction, soft chocolate coloured eyes staring directly back at Lovino, emotionless and blank. A pool of something that could not be anything but thick, crimson red blood was slowly seeping out from under Roma's breastplate. It was covering the ground around him in a strong shade of red. He looked so old and fragile. Lovino had never seen his grandpa like this, he looked so... weak. Roma had always been like a god to the boys when they were younger. He was always so strong, brave, and invincible. However, the God the boy's once knew was completely powerless now, slowly bleeding out on the ground. Seemed Roma was a mortal after all.

Roma's attacker pulled his sword out from his former friend's body, eyes still fixed on Lovino. Emotionless and cynical. He looked ready to kill them both.

He probably would have if he got the chance.

The older brother could not handle any more of this. He did not want to allow Feliciano to see any more.

 Lovino started running for real now, sprinting, with his feeble younger sibling stumbling clumsily after him, trying desperately to keep up. Feliciano had started resisting now; finally figuring out what his brother was planning on doing. The slender man tried wriggling free of Lovino's tight grip around his wrist.

"Stop Lovino!" Feliciano cried out. "It hurts!" His voice was distressed and pleading. So full of sorrow and confusion, Lovino could not help but think it his fault. The last thing he wanted was to hurt his brother in any way, but he had to drag him away from that scene, against his will if he had to. They would be killed if they stayed any longer.

"We need to go back, if we don't do something Roma will-" Feliciano tried pleading Lovino to turn back, but stopped mid-sentence once again. He seemed completely incapable of finishing what he started saying, Lovino was not really sure if his innocent little brother could even completely wrap his head around the gravity of the situation the two found themselves in at the current time.

Lovino moved his hand down to hold Feli's reassuringly, squeezing gently. Simultaneously he moved his gaze to meet his brother's.

Without speaking his green eyes told Feli what to do. He conveyed the message he was so urgently trying to get into his brother's head, he needed him to understand.

 And, without a word, Feliciano understood. The boys had always known each other a bit too well. Almost on a spiritual level. Despite their countless fights, their constant bickering and the way they drove each other mad at times, they had always had a special connection. Feliciano had been there for Lovino when he fell from the tree, Lovino had been there for his brother when Roma was out and there was a scary thunderstorm, and they had both been there for each other when their mother had died. Lovino didn't remember it too well, they'd both been very young. But he remembered Roma losing it, he remembered how his mother had looked, lifeless, still and pained. How Feliciano had tried calling her name again and again, how their newly born little brother had seemed so tiny, how his blue little fingers had looked so... cold.

 In these important moments, where words would fall short, the boys communicated on a different plane because of their shared experiences. They both knew what the other was thinking and feeling, and this time, without a single word, Feliciano accepted his brother's judgement.

"We have to leave Feli"

The younger brother nodded subtly at Lovino's last attempt to convince him to leave his grandpa behind for good. Tears were swelling up in his eyes again, but he understood.

Lovino and Feliciano continued their flight through the rampant crowd. Neither of them had seen Rome in such an uproar before. Word of the anarchy happening at the senate had quickly spread like wildfire throughout the city. Everyone knew of the incidents, but no one knew exactly what had happened yet. It was total and utter chaos at the current time due to the confusion. People were running left and right, some were screaming incoherently and frantically about the assassination of Caesar. Some were celebrating and burning down houses and attacking civilians, others locked themselves inside the safety of their homes. Those were the smart ones.

Lovino could not help but wonder what had happened to Tullia. The boys had been talking with the old lady outside of the senate by the market. She had been surprised they were awake this early, and Feliciano had laughed and told her Lovino could not sleep so he had awoken him too. The older brother could not believe how normal the day had been just an hour before. They had all talked, laughed, and bought vegetables. They had seen their grandpa amidst the guards and they had felt proud and happy and safe.

Now everything had went to hell and beyond.

After a while of running Feliciano started slowing down behind his big brother. Lovino was scared he would want to stop and go back for Roma, but Feliciano looked more tired than rebellious. They had been running for quite some time now, the physical strain had really started to take its toll on his young brother; he looked like he had problems breathing.

In all honesty, Lovino was pretty worn out himself, but he knew they could not stop now. Everyone in town knew Feli and Lovi were Roma's grandsons, and considering he'd just been openly murdered in cold blood for all to see, the streets they had called their home all their lives, weren't safe for the young men any longer.

"Just a bit more, it's not too far. We have to keep moving" Lovino pleaded Feli to not give up, if they could just make it to the safety of their own four walls...

Feliciano nodded strong-mindedly and to Lovino's great astonishment, started trotting beside his brother again. It seemed Feliciano was just full of surprises today.

He was astoundingly fast when he wanted to, and Lovino's tone of voice seemed to have an impact on the terrified and bewildered Italian, Lovino was the only thing in Feliciano's world right now, so when his older brother told him to run; he ran. With that, they both picked up the pace a little, panting and huffing, but still moving forward.

Finally, they arrived at their home street. Everything was considerably quieter here; the news of the incident had not yet fully reached this part of the city it seemed. A few people had gathered in the middle of a clearing between some of the houses. They talked in hushed tones; Lovino could not quite catch what they were saying, but what a bunch of old geezers were conversing about between themselves had less than no interest for him right now anyway. As the boys got closer and closer to their home, they slowed down their running. Finally, Lovino thought. They would be as safe as could be here. If they could just get inside, bar up the doors and get a quiet place to discuss their next actions, they might just make it.

 Lovino noticed a strange smell in the air. The air seemed to become... Thicker. Something was definitely off. He felt a hand wanting his attention on his shoulder. Lovino turned around and looked at Feliciano, secretly praying the boy would not have another breakdown. However, Feli looked calm enough. He seemed to stare at something.

"Lovi..."

The boy spoke quietly while pointing at something in front of him.

A thick, grey smoke was rising towards the sky, seemingly coming from...

Oh dear gods no

 Lovino's head was on fire. He started to panic again. All the reason, instinct, and calmness from before completely vaporized in thin air. 

Lovino started running again, frenzied this time, distressed. Hauling Feliciano with him. As the two Italians passed around the street corner they had so often walked past on their way to get water, a sight that sent a shock of cold down Lovino's spine met them.

A wall of smoke, sparks and hot ash blocked the way.

Tullia's house was on fire. No, fire wasn't enough to describe the sight. Tullia's house had transformed into a vicious, lashing beast of an inferno, devouring everything in its wake. Tullia's house was on fire alright, and so was the neighbouring house.

It was all falling apart from the inside. Orange flames shot out from the windows, and the tiny little speck of land in the backyard, the speck of land Feliciano had spent countless hours tending and caring for; It was all being consumed, eaten up by the flaming monster.

This time Feliciano didn't scream. He was as dead quiet as the grave, so was Lovino. The boys stood like this for several  seconds. Just staring at the destruction of their whole childhood. Every  memory the boys had in that house, every sleepless night with lullaby's and laughter and hugs, everything... Everything was being consumed, right in front of them, just like that.

"Oh..." Feliciano whispered. This was the first word that had come out of his mouth in a while. His voice was hoarse and weak. Lovino's brother made no attempt to hide how scared he was. He never did.

Lovino knew there weren't a thing in the world he could do. Roma was dead, Rome was thrown into chaos and their one and only hope of survival was slowly burning to the ground right in front of them. The only thing the boys had left were the clothes their bore on their bodies. No money, no food, no hope.

"Shut up Feliciano!" Lovino barked viciously, seemingly out of thin air. Feliciano hadn't even said anything to deserve his brother's anger, but Lovino was too distressed to be thinking clearly.  "I need to think, we... We just need to..."

Lovino didn't finish the sentence, because he had no idea how.

Heavy steps on limestone could suddenly be heard from the corner on Lovino's right. Not a single person or animal could be seen in the narrow alley with the burning houses. Most people were smart enough to run away when they saw fire, or so Lovino thought. It seemed the boys weren't alone after all.

"Was that it?" A deep voice growled, the noise coming from the same direction as the footsteps. It sounded like it belonged to a big and heavy man. His voice enough to give Lovino some idea of how dangerous the person it belonged to were.

"Yeah! We're done here"

A second man spoke. His voice more feminine, it had a sly and unpredictable tone to it. He sounded like the personification of a snake or a spider or some other repulsing animal.

The steps of the two men neared closer. Lovino snapped out of his trance. They had to hide, immediately. 

He grabbed his little brother by the shirt, pulling him behind the outer walls of a rundown shack that stood situated not far away from the burning remains of their house.

"Lovino what are you-"

"Damn it Feli, shut up"

The oldest brother placed his hand forcefully over the younger brother's mouth, simultaneously wheezing at him to be quiet.

"Good... What will we do about his kids though?" The largest of the two men asked the smaller one.

The strangers entered Lovino's line of sight now. The first impression he got from their voices fitted perfectly. The largest of the two wore full armour, and he was big. Not big as in; "a normal tall man" -big. But big as in; "looks like a cross between a bear and a giant" -big.

The smaller one wore armour too, but his was more lightweight and looked more flexible. He had several scars on his face and cold, unreadable eyes. They both looked like they killed people for a living. Now that Lovino thought about it; they probably did.

"I wouldn't bother about them, they have no place to go now, right?" The man with the cold eyes chuckled.

"And besides, they are his _grandchildren_ mind you _,_ they are still young. Two little brats like that won't survive long out there"

The small man laughed louder now.

"That damn idiot of a soldier surely didn't know how to raise kids. Rumours say they are as weak and useless as kittens. People even believed the youngest one was a girl for what... the first 10 years of his life?" He spoke the words with a belittling tone in his voice.

"I suppose. In any case, burning down the houses was a good idea, sets an example for the rest of the damn tyrant supporters too. Brutus will take control in no time"

Behind the wall of the shack Lovino was quickly losing control. As the stranger's words sunk in, the belligerent youth  was sent straight over the edge. Without thinking, the now very bloodthirsty man removed his hand from Feliciano's mouth, grabbed the sharpest and hardest stone he could find on the ground and started walking towards the two heavily armed men, ready to give the fuckers that had done all this the justice they deserved. He might not have a weapon, but he'd bash their fucking skulls in with a pebble if he needed to.

"No!" Feliciano hissed. Throwing himself around his brother, pulling him behind the cover of the wall again, holding his arms in place.

"Let go of me idiot" Lovino reprimanded. Trying to squirm away from Feliciano. "You heard what the bastards said!"  Lovino tried freeing his arms forcefully, using his legs to kick his brother, but Feli would have none of that.

To Lovino's surprise the scrawny looking man managed to tackle him to the ground by pouncing at him, placing them both trashing on the ground. Rendering Lovino incapable of moving much by pinning his arms down behind his back. For such a slim man Feliciano was surprisingly heavy when he wanted do. 

"Shh, please be quiet, they'll hear you" Feliciano pleaded urgently.

"They burnt down our house Feliciano! They know the man that killed Roma!!" Lovino saw red.

"They are standing there making fun of us!"

"Lovino, by Jupiter if you don't keep your voice down I will knock you unconscious" Feliciano took a deep breath before continuing. Lovino had never before heard his brother speak in such a strict tone as he did now.

"I knew you are angry and sad and I am too, but attacking these people won't help us. They are so much stronger than us, there's no chance we could ever beat them"

Lovino stopped resisting, letting his body go limp under Feliciano's weight. Of course his brother was right. Lovino was weak, he would never be able to do anything against the heavily armoured men. He would never be as brave or strong as Roma, and he'd never be as perfect and beautiful as Feliciano either. Lovino couldn't help but wish he was the one getting killed instead. At least Roma would be able to know what to do and keep Feli safe. If he had just never woken Feli up in the first place... If they had never gone to the market... If he had just kept his damn mouth shut as Roma was attacked...

All of this could have been avoided.

"Thanks Lovi..." Feliciano spoke softly, almost whispering.

He eased the pressure on Lovino's body slowly and carefully, almost expecting his brother to jump on the chance to blow their cover as soon as he was able. However, Lovino stayed put. As much as he wanted to... He did not even know what he wanted. Revenge?

No

Not really. All the fight left in the trembling young man had been erased. The only thing he was left with now was sorrow and the intolerable feeling of guilt.

The boys stood up. Silently brushing of the layer of dust that had settled on their garments. Considering these were the only clothes they had left now, they had to try and take care of them from now on out.

"Let's leave"

Lovino turned away from the corner. Signalling to Feliciano that he wanted them to move on. The men were still there, discussing something that escaped Lovino's earshot. He tried very hard not to get agitated again, his main priority now would be to take care of his little sibling. Sneaking past the soldiers was a lot easier than expected. For someone who was tasked with searching for people, they were extremely bad at it.

"Where will we go now?"  Feli whispered, his young brother still seemed somewhat scared. Talking in hushed tones to avoid catching the attention of the heavily armed men, even though they were probably out of their line of sight and earshot by now.

"I "

 Lovino stopped and thought about it for a second. Where would they go? Tullia's house was burned to the ground, taking their own with it. They had no relatives in Rome, not any the boys knew of anyway, and with the murder of the emperor their safe little world was literally plunged into bedlam. 

"I honestly don't know"

Silence again. Everything was so tranquil. It was as normal a day as any. The sun was shining just the same as it had yesterday. The market was full of people that had no idea of the current situation their country faced, they'd know soon enough. Lovino found it all disturbing in a way. His life was literally burned  to the ground, and the world was still spinning.

"We have to go Feli"

"Where?"

"Anywhere but here"

 

**********************************************************************************

 

After two weeks of hiding and running, things in Rome had seemingly started to calm down a bit. Neither Feliciano nor Lovino had heard any real news since the incident. However, there were enough gossip around to keep them up to date. Two men Lovino thought he'd heard the name of before had been behind the attack. Cicero and Brutus. Not that Lovino really cared.

The boys had been more than busy just trying to survive to pay attention to politics. They had found an abandoned house to sleep in the first few nights. It had been cold and uncomfortable, but at least they got to sleep in peace. It was Lovino's responsibility to keep Feliciano safe now, so far he'd been doing a horrible job. After days without food Lovino had became desperate. He had thought about turning to begging, but he was too scared that someone might recognize him or his brother to try that out in the open. As  tense as things were in Rome right now, Lovino took no chances.

Stealing was the better alternative. Feliciano had suggested it actually, and Lovino had been quite surprised, but he couldn't argue it was their best alternative. Feliciano had acted as a decoy. He had played the role of a poor beggar boy, a role he fitted perfectly considering the state he and his clothes were in by now. Feliciano was a surprisingly good actor, and their little performance had worked out well several times. Feliciano would act, and Lovino would steal as their victims were distracted.

It would happen that people caught them too though. Today was the second time in three days the people they'd stolen from had noticed. Everyone seemed to be more on alert as the days went by, Lovino figured it was because of the political state of affairs. That, or the boys were simply losing their touch.

Lovino had tried sneaking up to their most recent victim's market stall as Feliciano kept him busy. They had circled out an old man selling apples. His stall was on the outside of the market, small enough to not have many customers that could potentially reveal their attempted theft, but still big enough to sell some decent food.  However, the man had turned around just at Lovino was about to grab some apples.

And with that, the boys ran.

Lovino took Feliciano's hand as he sprinted past the merchant, leading him onwards. To where, neither of them knew. They just had to get away as fast as humanly possible. Pilfering was considered a serious crime, if they weren't fast about escaping they would probably get killed by the city guards. More prominent Roman citizens would probably get thrown into jail or be forced to pay a fine or something similar for shoplifting, but two scruffy looking young men would probably be killed right on the spot.

As the boys were sure they were safely out of the guards vision after a few minutes of sprinting through narrow alleys, they slowed down the pace to a trot. It seemed no one had bothered following them, considering the only thing Lovino had managed to steal was a scrawny looking apple, that was understandable.

"We can... We can escape to the countryside" Feliciano huffed trying to keep up with his older brother.  Both of the Vargas children had always been very out of shape, but Feliciano was a tad bit worse. It might have something to do with his age, or maybe it was because of his physique in general? Lovino frankly had no idea, however, at least the poor boy was able to partly keep up.

When Lovino didn't answer Feliciano continued. He had been suggestion things they could do left and right the last few days. His blabbering never ended, it drove Lovino mad.

"It's probably safe there right? Better than here anyway, we are going to get killed if we stay here. Lovino are you listening to me? We... We could sell flowers! And I could make food, and you could work on a farm, and we could earn real  money and-"

"Feliciano for the love of everything holy shut your damn mouth trap for just one second and let me think"

"I"

Lovino abruptly halted, making Feliciano slam into him from behind. The street they had stopped in was free of people. Good, Lovino had no energy what so ever to deal with the looks and stares and insults that were usually flung at them as they passed people by.

"No you don't. I am sick and tired of your constant blabbering. We won't be able to escape to the countryside alive, we won't be able to earn any damn money because we both know we are freaking useless." Lovino took a deep breath of air before continuing.

"I have no idea what to do, you have no idea what to do. So for now, JUST SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH AND LET ME THINK!"

Lovino grabbed Feliciano by the arm, forcefully. He just wanted to continue running. However, Feli didn't carry on. As Lovino tried forcefully yanking his arm forward to make him continue onwards, his little brother stood with feet planted on the ground, making Lovino lose his balance as he tried jerking him forward to no avail.

"No"

The smaller man was trembling slightly. His normally joyful, narrowed eyes were wide open and rapidly tearing up. He always used crying as a tactic to get what he wanted, Lovino couldn't stand it.

"Listen Feli"

"No!" Feliciano clenched his fists

"You listen! I'm scared and I know you are too so stop acting like you are not. You have been ordering me around since... Since what happened and I am sick of it. I actually have some good ideas too you know"

Lovino couldn't help but roll his eyes slightly.

"What do you want us to do huh Lovino? Just run? To where!? Where exactly do you want us to run?! We have been running the past two weeks, we look terrible. We have no food, we are barely surviving here. My plan is better, and you know it. You are just too proud to admit it!"

As the now enraged older brother opened his mouth to counter his younger brother's arguments his train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a hard blow to his head.

"Lovin-"

Then everything went pitch black.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I will be updating this work every Sunday! So stay tuned for that and thank you for reading.


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